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Counseling center is sold

By Alana Melanson, amelanson@lowellsun.com

Updated:
12/31/2015 01:44:46 PM EST

Dr. Ashok Joshi, left, president of Comprehensive Health Services, and CEO Kumkum Dilwali show one of the counseling rooms at the former Comprehensive Outpatient Services Inc., in the Center for Family Development building on Bridge Street in Lowell. Comprehensive Health Services has acquired the center and will reopen it, as well as centers in Chelmsford and Newton. SUN/Julia Malakie (Julia Malakie)

LOWELL -- As they walked around the Center for Family Development on Tuesday, Dr. Ashok Joshi and Kumkum Dilwali spoke excitedly about their plans to bring new life to the counseling center.

Billing will be streamlined. Electronic medical records are being implemented. There will be aesthetic changes to make the center more soothing and inviting. But most importantly, it will serve the many patients who have been without mental-health services since the center was shuttered in September due to bankruptcy.

"Lowell has been good to me in my almost 30 years I've had an affiliation with Lowell, and this is, in many ways, our way of giving back to the community, to provide these services," said Joshi, a primary-care physician with offices in Billerica and Lowell.

Joshi purchased three of the four former counseling centers run by Comprehensive Outpatient Services Inc., for an undisclosed amount on Nov. 13. The centers, formerly owned by Dr. Bruce Mermelstein of Newton, were abruptly closed Sept. 30 by order of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Under the name Comprehensive Health Services, LLC, Joshi is reopening the Center for Family Development, along with Stoney Brook Counseling Center in Chelmsford and Charles River Counseling Center in Newton.

Joshi said he intends to rehire as many of the former COSI staff members and bring back as many patients as possible. He said about half of the clinical staff is likely to return.

The fourth former COSI center, Riverfront Counseling Center in Fitchburg, is not part of the deal.

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Joshi said he was not able to retain any of the therapists at that location because they have already found other employment.

After working in local hospitals for many years, Joshi opened his own practice, Billerica Medical and Health Center, in 1994. He also owns CBC Medical and Walk-In Center in Lowell. Between those two locations, he employs two other physicians and three nurse practitioners.

Dilwali, director of operations for Joshi's medical offices, will be the CEO of Comprehensive Health Services. The centers will keep the same names, locations and phone numbers to ensure continuity, Dilwali said.

Joshi said he has seen the role of primary care evolve over the years from solely medical care to include some behavioral health, such as treatment of depression, anxiety and insomnia. While medicine is often designed to address separate bodily systems, Joshi and Dilwali said primary care is moving toward addressing a patient as a comprehensive whole and the eventual integration of mental health.

When he heard of the COSI closures, Joshi said he realized it meant the loss of an essential service in the community. He discussed it with his team, and they found they could bring the centers back to life with new efficiencies in place.

The process to reopen has been long and bureaucratic -- a "logistical juggernaut," as Joshi calls it -- from transferring the state mental-health clinic license to efforts to obtain credentials with all of the major health-insurance providers.

Since Dec. 23, about a dozen Massachusetts Behavioral Health Plan patients have been seen at CFD. Joshi and Dilwali said more patients will be served as more insurance credentials are obtained, and they expect to be able to open "full force" in January.

They thanked the state Department of Public Health for the quick license transfer, Washington Savings Bank for providing financial resources, and most of all, the former COSI staff members who have undertaken tremendous efforts to help them get the centers up and running.

"Their commitment is what has provided this baseline of support for us," Dilwali said.

Former patient Robin Gravlin of Lowell said she has been unable to find another therapist since the Chelmsford center closed and welcomed the news of the reopening.

"That would be excellent," she said. "I know there's limited services and just so many people that are fighting to get into just anything at this point."

Anyone interested in employment at any of the centers may email Dilwali at kumkum@chs-pc.com. Patients interested in returning to the centers may call CFD at 978-459-2306, Stoney Brook at 978-275-9444 or Charles River at 617-527-4610.

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